OP here - thanks for the encouragement. I did make one and it ended up looking great for a first try. I used a recipe that relied on cake mix and didn't do the whole thing from scratch but the. I only had one small crack upon rolling and unrolling the cake. I will definitely be making it again next year.

I've like the cooks illustrated version with chocolate ganache.

I recently made this one (my first) and I thought it was easy and good.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buche-de-noel/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - it says "use a cotton kitchen towel". I have terry cloth type towels. Should I use a tea towel instead or it doesn't matter?

Yes, use a tea towel. Don't use terry cloth.

Eh, I used a terry cloth towel last year. It worked.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Roll-with-Cappuccino-Cream-11035

I made this last year. Skip the cinnamon in the cream filling. It was too much.

Ah, the Yule Log. One of the only things I miss about being married to a French pastry chef. That and the accent.

Brings back memories. I used to love making this every Christmas with my Grandmother. Mmm.

I make a couple every year. I do it in bits and pieces. I made the meringues for the mushrooms this past weekend. I made the buttercream frosting a few days ago and froze it (that works with buttercream, might not work with other frostings). I often make the jelly roll in advance and freeze it (I use jam for the filling since the frosting is so rich, so it freezes well). Then all I need to do is assemble it and decorate when it's time to serve it. None of the individual parts takes long but it might be more daunting to try to do it all at once.

The sponge cake is super easy to make but you do need a good pan. I find that a silpat liner is also really useful, although parchment works too. Definitely roll it up in a tea towel. Unroll very carefully to fill with jam or frosting. It might crack when you unroll it but that doesn't show after it's been rerolled. Also you cut the ends off the log before frosting so you don't need to worry about cracks on the edge.

I still use the Buche de Noel recipe from my middle school French teacher. Not hard as long as you can follow directions - I made it every year for Christmas from middle school through high school.

Anonymous wrote:We buy ours from Bread and Chocolate on Connecticut Ave. Yes, I am lazy!

or have other things to do with your time.

We buy ours from Bread and Chocolate on Connecticut Ave. Yes, I am lazy!